good morning from shikoku. gosh, what an awesome day it was yesterday. the waves were small but the surfing level was up for the tssc contest at ikumi. and it was supposed to rain but it was sunny and perfect. i took out my camera yesterday morning to take some video and my battery light was flashing. shit, i was bummed. took some video but not as much as i wanted to. but i got about 10 minutes of great stuff. going to work on putting it up later tonight or tomorrow. anyway, got so many things to do this morning so i’d better go. but first, check out these photos from the other night at the barrels renewal party….

the new barrels water sports shop in osaka is awesome. ishino-san did a great job. walking by, how could you now resist going inside to take a look.

got a good feeling in the store with a lot of space….

pretty cool yeah? everything in there is top quality stuff. including the staff.

then it was off to the party. first it’s yasu, yasu is a designer that makes pretty cool stuff. also a surfer, skater, and diver. then it’s yusuke. gosh, standing next to yusuke makes me feel small. yusuke is the guy that a few people emailed me to ask about. a few girls. yusuke is single so go charge. haha. then we have masaki-san from RSM or real west side movement. masaki surfs, skates, and dives too. i went diving with him a few times and we have an awesome time. can’t wait till the water gets a little warmer so we can go grab some lobsters, abalone, and fish. then barbecue after…

this is barrels owner ishino-san. i’ve known ishino-san for a long time and he’s always has been super nice to me. he’s my surf shop sponsor and i’m super happy riding for barrels….

these two girls are customers of barrels. they are in this club called “paddling girls”. i’ve been to busy to search for their website but they told me that if i search “paddling girls” in yahoo, they will be on top. i’ll have to check that out later….

then we have kenji, matsuo, and yoneda. 3 guys i’ve known for a long time…. super good friends….

then it’s ishino-san in the middle, tssc shaper tsukurimichi-san on the right, and on the left, i forgot his name but he use to camp out at kaifu back in the days. hard core soul surfer…..
**anyway, gotta get going. too many things to do in so little time. have a beautiful day….

good morning. 5am and we’re heading the the tssc users cup at ikumi. going to be a long day and long night. lot’s of fun… have a nice day and see ya later…

this is seth on the roof of yamari shirasu factory. if i was 10 years old, i’d be getting home sick already. seth keeps on asking me how many more days he has left in japan. he wants to know because he doesn’t want to go home yet. he told me 1 more week….

if i was seth, i wouldn’t want to go home yet either. check out all his new japanese friends he made along the way. and these kids were with us from day 1. i’m so happy for these kids….

this is how the waves have been. flat…. but who cares when your having a blast….

this is 9 years old surfer grom ren. ren loves seth and seth loves ren. they chase eachother all day long… so cute….

and how’s the technology now days? crazy. we can chat around the world with a live video stream. this is my new computer with a video attached to it. i can see you and you can see me…. scary yeah? here is tony and seth video chatting with tammy and kelia. so far but feels so close to home….

kenji sahara took this photo of me standing on the beach at pipeline last year. i love it…. and when ever i see it, i start to miss hawaii. the weather, the waves, my bed, my car, and all the aloha… been in japan for 1 week. flat waves. good for the kids to surf but way to small for me even to stand up. i did 2 days of stand-up paddling and but i miss getting barreled in my surf trunks…. ahhhh… that’s the way i’m feeling right now. but once i see a big sashimi platter, or some sushi, or a nice hot ramen in front of me, i’m not homesick at all.. haha…
**i was looking at yoko furuichi’s and yuko shimijiri’s blogs today and they are both in hawaii. i’m a little jealous…. wish i was there… now i’m starting to feel a little home sick again. i’m better go eat some good food right now…. good night…
CLICK HERE FOR YOKO FURUICHI’S BLOG….

CLICK HERE FOR YUKO SHIMIJIRI’S BLOG…
**and last, check out this interview i did with legendary shaper/surfer/coach ben aipa. bumped into ben one day when i went to check bowls. he use to be my coach and taught me a lot. in fact, ben coached most of the pro’s coming out of hawaii in the days. including world champion sunny garcia…